Math Links for Week Ending Nov. 1st, 2013

Spectacular visualization from the NBA. You choose the team and the player and see where they are hot and where they are not. They have also done some more detailed analysis of how entire teams do against each other that is pretty cool.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://hotshotcharts.com/

I am always on the lookout for datasets for analysis. Did you know the wettest place in Canada is Henderson, BC? Or that the coldest place is Snag, Yukon? Here is data on weather extremes in Canada
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MBF3C, MDM4U
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/Canada/

Correlation is often confused with causation. This is a problem when people believe that just because two variables are correlated that one of the variable's change is the cause of the other's. Here is a tutorial video on proving causation.
Curriculum Tags: MDM4U
http://learnandteachstatistics.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/proving-causation/

A throwback to Felix Baumgartner's Redbull Stratos Jump from Explore Learning. A full three part lesson with links to specific Gizmos. Now the lesson basically focus on physics but I still contend that all of the metrics that were on the screen as he first rose in the capsule that could be used for a lesson on ratio, rate and speed. When it was happening I actually took some screen shots. You can download all 20 of them here.
Curriculum Tags: Gr7, Gr8, MPM1D, MFM1P
http://explorelearning.blogs.com/ontario/2013/10/fearless-freefall-felix-updated.html

I thought this was a neat way to collect data. Play Mastermind and then do the analysis. In this case its done in a 4th grade class but this could easily be adapted to be done in a Data Management class when dealing with single variable statistics.
http://rationalexpressions.blogspot.com/2013/10/mastermind-part-1-solving-and-making.html
http://rationalexpressions.blogspot.com/2013/10/mastermind-part-2-refining-our-notion.html
http://rationalexpressions.blogspot.com/2013/10/mastermind-part-3-whats-typical-number.html

What is it like to be a mathematician?
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.slate.com/what_is_it_like_to_be_a_mathematician






The myth of "I'm Bad at Math". A lot of discussion about this article on the Interwebs. Lots of people on both sides. Although the article doesn't mention it explicitly. The theory tends to be that many have what is called a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset. That is, with a fixed mindset you think that you are born with a certain ability and that won't change. Whereas a growth mindset is when you believe that you can always continue to learn. Recent brain info seems to suggest that the growth mindset is supported. Check the following articles out for yourself.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/the-myth-of-im-bad-at-math/280914/

That being said here is a counter point. Thanks to @mathtans for pointing this one out.
http://rationalexpressions.blogspot.ca/2013/10/someone-is-wrong-on-interne-bad-at-math.html

Here is some research to support the idea of how foster the growth model of learning
http://dev.opeq.blenderbox.com/uploads/files/868cea31-5888-4e45-a832-62b4377dbbfb.pdf

And to finish this topic off, let's hear about being a math major. I saw this a last week and forgot to put it in. Thanks to Sylvie Gava-Zompanti for reminding me of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs9aGVUZ3YA

Ha ha funny. From Vine (and on the Vine YouTube channel) here is a clip about nerd vandalism
Curriculum Tags: All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvHpN9WeFAA

New from Vi Hart for Fractals and Logs. After I see her videos like this I think she should be ending with "See what I did there?"
Curriculum Tags: MHF4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc8sWN_jNF4

The Beauty of Mathematics in widescreen
Curriculum tags: All
http://vimeo.com/77330591